MANORS
The manor of GREAT BIRCH
with Birch Castle (sometimes referred to as
Birch Hall) was held in 1066 by Edric, and afterwards by Ingelric, and in 1086 of Count Eustace
of Boulogne by Hugh who held Easthorpe of the
count. Great Birch manor owned two houses in
Colchester in 1086, which perhaps served as the
lord's town houses, but their use declined after
the 11th century. (fn. 18) The overlordship was still in
the honor of Boulogne in the 14th century, but
by 1407 the manor was held of the king in
chief. (fn. 19)
Hugh's successors held Great Birch in the late
12th century. The manor was granted, with
Easthorpe, to Ralph Gernon in 1228, and the
demesne lordship of Great Birch descended with
Easthorpe to the Gernon and Peyton families
and their successors, certainly until 1576 when
Arthur Golding succeeded his brother Henry,
and possibly until 1586 or later. (fn. 20)
Before 1276 one of the Gernons granted the
mesne tenancy of Great Birch to a member of
the Baynard family, lords of Messing Hall and
Harborough manors in Messing. (fn. 21) John Baynard
died in possession of the manor in 1344, and was
succeeded in turn by his son John (d. 1349),
John's son Thomas (d. 1375), Thomas's son
Richard (d. 1433) whose second wife was Grace,
widow of John Peyton, who held the manor of
the king in chief. (fn. 22) When Richard and Grace
Baynard were lord and lady of both Great Birch
and the Messing manors they administered
those manors and Easthorpe together. (fn. 23) They
were followed by Richard's son Richard
Baynard (d. 1473) whose heir was his daughter
Grace, wife of Thomas Langley. Grace died in
1509 and was succeeded by her son from her
second marriage, John Daniell (d. 1556) and
then by his son Edmund Daniell (d. 1570) who
held Birch as of Easthorpe manor. (fn. 24)
Edward Elliott (d. 1595) held Great Birch
manor in 1586, apparently of the lord of
Easthorpe manor, and was succeeded by his son
Thomas Elliott. Mark Mott (d. 1631), probably
the rector of Rayne, acquired Great Birch
manor, and left a third each to his three youngest
daughters. (fn. 25) Thomas Kemp was lord in 1669.
The lordship was held in 1708 by Henry Hene
and his wife Jane in Jane's right, between 1732
and 1752 or longer by Ralph Mansell, Jane's
second husband, in 1770 by Richard Whitfield,
and in the period 1789-1804 by James
Hodgkin. (fn. 26) In 1811 the manor was bought by
Charles Round and was thereafter held with
Little Birch manor. (fn. 27)
Birch Castle, which stood a few yards south
of St. Peter's church, was probably a motte and
bailey castle. In 1768 only a mound surrounded
by a ditch remained, and in the 20th century
just a short section of rampart and ditch. (fn. 28) In
1430 the bakehouse at Birch Hall, presumably
belonging to the castle or a manor house, was
repaired. (fn. 29) By 1768 the manor house was said to
be a cottage two miles north-west of the church,
'opposite to Gernons, otherwise called the
White-house', presumably Whitehouse Farm,
Porters Green; it was probably the one used in
1863 then called the White House. A pound was
apparently opposite, perhaps the hundred
pound. (fn. 30)
The manor of LITTLE BIRCH was held in
1066 by Ulwin, and in 1086 of Robert Gernon
by Robert de Verley. (fn. 31) Robert Gernon's fief
escheated to the Crown, and Henry I granted it
to William de Munfitchet. On Richard Mun-
fitchet's death without issue in 1267, the overlordship passed to Evelyn (d. 1274), daughter of
William de Forz count of Aumale, and wife of
Edmund earl of Lancaster, (fn. 32) who also died without issue, and from whom, presumably, the
overlordship came to the de Vere family, earls
of Oxford, as part of the honor of Castle
Hedingham. The overlordship continued in the
de Vere family and was last recorded in the 18th
century. (fn. 33)
Figure 09:
Little Birch Hall c. 1772
The undertenancy was held in 1276 by Robert
Verley, (fn. 34) and from 1325 or earlier by the
Tendring family. (fn. 35) William Tendring (1435-90)
was M.P. for Maldon in 1478. (fn. 36) William Tend-
ring (d. c. 1500) had two daughters, Margaret
and Dorothy: Margaret's husband Robert
Forster (d. 1545) acquired three quarters of the
manor and in 1514 bought the remaining quarter
from Dorothy, then Dorothy Southwell.
Robert's heir was his son George Forster (d.
1556). (fn. 37) Little Birch descended with Great Birch
and Easthorpe manors until 1598 when Arthur
Golding sold it to John Petre, Lord Petre. (fn. 38) In
1605 John settled it on his son Thomas, who
sold it in 1608 to Sir John Swinnerton (d. 1616),
lord mayor of London 1612, and the manor
descended with Stanway until 1631, when
Thomas Swinnerton retained it. (fn. 39) Thomas was
succeeded by his son John, who died without
issue, then by his daughter Thomasin (d. 1697),
and her second husband John Hopwood. (fn. 40)
Hopwood sold the manor in 1724 to James
Round (d. 1745). James was succeeded by his
nephew, William Round (d. 1772), and then by
William's son James (d. 1806), M.P. and J.P.
The succession continued through James's son
James (d. 1809), that James's brother Charles
(d. 1834), Charles's son Charles Gray Round (d.
1867), M.P. 1837-47, recorder of Colchester.
Charles Gray Round was succeeded by his
nephew, James Round (1842-1916), M.P., J.P.,
and Essex county council alderman. (fn. 41) The estate
then passed to Lt. Col. C. J. Round (1886-
1945), J.P., and his son Lt. Col. J. G. Round
(1913-97), who had three daughters. (fn. 42)
Little Birch Hall, the manor house in 1605,
was said to have been built mainly by the Tend-
ring and Golding families. In 1727-8 James
Round (d. 1745) rebuilt it 'in a handsome
manner' and his nephew William made further
improvements. The 18th-century house was of
two storeys with dormer windows behind a plain
parapet. The east and west facades were each of
seven bays, with the centre three bays broken
out under a pediment. On the west front the end
bays had full-height canted bay windows. (fn. 43) In
1777 there was a garden divided into symmetri-
cal plots to the east, (fn. 44) and by 1800 outbuildings
between house and church, orchards south of
the church, a plantation north of the house, and
a ha-ha west of it.
In 1843-8 C. G. Round built the new Birch
Hall, to designs by Thomas Hopper, as 'a hand-
some mansion in the plain Ionic order' in beautiful grounds south-west of the site of the old
Hall, which was still standing in 1846. (fn. 45) It was
Italianate, ashlar faced with a prominent balustrade and, though the use of the Ionic order
was constant, each elevation was different: the
seven-bayed north-west front had a portecochère of paired columns, the south-east front
a colonnaded verandah along its length, and the
sixbayed south-west front was Palladian in
inspiration with giant columns broken forward.
Attached to the north-east side was a service
court and in 1876 (fn. 46) a conservatory. Inside, the
centre of the house resembled a covered colonnaded court with an imperial staircase. (fn. 47) The
stable court lay north-east of the house, with to
its south a kitchen garden, in which a forcing
wall formed the north boundary. The grounds,
laid out from 1843, (fn. 48) included plantations
north-west and north-east of the house, which
screened the church and outbuildings, a south-
east garden, and open prospects to the west and
north-west. The house was demolished in 1954
except for a plain three-bayed, two-storeyed
brick wing, which formed part of the service
court and in 2000 contained a flat, and a former
servants' hall of one tall storey. The stables, to
the north-east, have become part of industrial
premises and the walls of the kitchen garden survive to the south of them. A late classical style
lodge survives at the entrance to the drive, which
in 1876 led from crossroads to the north-west.
There is another lodge to the south-east and a
third on the Maldon road. (fn. 49) In the plantation
east of the house is a mid 19th-century house,
which was two cottages in 2000, with the
remains of an Italianate belvedere.
The manor, known in the 11th century as
LEGRA (i.e. LAYER), held in 1066 by Liwin,
a free man, and in 1086 by Hugh de Montfort
in demesne, can be identified as WILLIAM A
BIRCHES. (fn. 50) The estate was held in chief, prob-
ably originally in socage, and owed castle ward
at Dover. In 1292 it was held by Richard of
Birch and it descended in his family to Hamon
Birch, then Hamon's son Robert (d. 1342), (fn. 51)
Robert's brother Nicholas (d. 1369), Nicholas's
son John (d. 1415), (fn. 52) John's son Richard (d.
1474), and Richard's son William. The estate
was acquired by William Tey (d. 1502) and
descended with Aldham Hall to William Tey
who sold it in 1593 to Humphrey Burton and
William Sibthorpe. (fn. 53) Christopher Sibthorpe (d.
1605) left it to his daughters, Elizabeth and
Anne, then minors. In 1768 it was held by Col.
Brown, and in 1789 apparently by Montagu
Burgoyne and others. (fn. 54) The manor house was
presumably the building called William a
Birch's recorded east of Layer Breton Heath in
1777, where Birch Cottage stood in 1876. (fn. 55)
Another manor in Little Birch was held in
1066 by Wlward as a manor and half a hide and
15 a., and in 1086 Hugh de St. Quentin held it
of the queen's gift. (fn. 56) Hamon de St. Quentin,
who died between 1216 and 1272, held it and
sold it. (fn. 57)
Birch Holt, formerly Old Holt, in Great and
Little Birch, Messing, Layer Marney, and
Copford, sometimes referred to as a manor, may
be associated with William atte Holte recorded
in 1327. (fn. 58) It came to the Tey family before 1384,
being held of the Tendring family, and de-
scended with Marks Tey until the death of
Thomas Tey in 1540 when it passed to his
daughter Mary wife of Sir Thomas Nevill. (fn. 59)
John Haynes held it when he died in 1605. His
son John Haynes sold it in 1647 to William
Tanner, a clothier of Great Coggeshall. It sub-
sequently came to Sir William Abdy and in 1768
Sir John Shaw had it. (fn. 60) In 1814 it belonged
to the Wright family who sold it in 1907 to
the Round family; they sold it in 1918 to
N. N. Sherwood. (fn. 61)
The timber-framed and rendered house at
Birch Holt, which looks mainly early 19th-
century, is L-plan and two-storeyed, with attics
on the north-east side. The house on the site in
1676 and 1683 (fn. 62) was a large, irregular courtyard
house within a triangular moat crossed from the
south-east. The main south-east front was
apparently late 15th- or early 16th-century,
probably built by the Teys. The hall was of
brick, with a high-end bay window with arched
lights and angle buttresses, and two other bays
divided by a buttress and clerestorey level windows. The doorway, which had a four centred
head, was at the north-east end. The timber-
framed cross wings had two jettied upper
storeys; the low north-east service wing had
mullioned windows, the south-west parlour
wing mullioned and transomed windows and a
lateral stack. South-east of the moat lay a farm yard, a moated orchard, and an avenue running
south-westward. In 1876 (fn. 63) the east and south
sides of the moat and the moated orchard
remained and, although much of the house had
been demolished, more buildings were standing
than in 1999. At that time all that survived were
remains of the north-east wing, raised and
extended north-west in the 19th and 20th cen-
turies but with old roof timbers at first-floor
level and a large central chimney stack, probably
inserted in the late 16th or early 17th century.
The hall was demolished before 1876 and
replaced by a block two bays deep and two bays
wide, in the roof of which two massive 16th-
century moulded beams were reused.